Author Helen Oyeyemi signs for a fan at IFOA Port Hope on October 29, 2011, one of the 17 stops on the IFOA Ontario touring programme. Photo by Rahim Rajani © litontour.com.
The Book Madam a.k.a Julie Wilson writes for Open Book: Ontario about the merits of the ol’ fashioned book tour. And we couldn’t agree more.
Back in 2010, author Kathleen Winter participated in the IFOA Ontario touring programme and had this to say: “[IFOA Ontario] is a really good opportunity for one on one conversations, during the signings, between reader and writer. One of the most moving comments any reader had made to me happened in Orillia and I will never forget it. A reader told me one sentence out of my book, and he said, ‘I travelled all the way here to meet the person who wrote that sentence.’ That made me cry.”
With so much of our lives playing out online, there still really is nothing like meeting a beloved author face to face. Nothing compares to having your book signed while you attempt to profess your admiration in the most cool, least suffocating way possible.
Read the Book Madam’s full article here. Our favourite line is contributed by author Cathy Marie Buchanan who recounts: “A US border [guard] once got very excited about meeting an author. He wrote down the name of my book, told me he would never forget that day and got out of his booth to stand in the middle of the road, waving as I drove off. The bonus — he was cute.” It’s a reminder that just like musicians and movie stars, authors can and do generate fandemonium too. Go team books!
Oh – and one of Lit On Tour’s very own partners, Shelley Macbeth, is interviewed for the piece too!